Adam emil schatz



ADAM EMIL SCHATZ,

A'llENT @rrrcrm OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

CANAL-BOAT PROPELLER-RAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 511,911, dated January 2, 1894.

Application filed January 19.1893. Serial No. 458,988 (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADAM EMIL SCHATZ, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improved Canal-Boat Propellers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for propelling boats, and has particular reference to the propulsion of canal boats and involves the employment of an electriclooomotive having spur gear wheels engaging a rack provided on a rail fixed along the bank of a canal; the electric current to be supplied by suitable generating plants along the line of the canal.

The method or means heretofore most commonly employed for the propulsion of canal boats is too well known to need description and has many drawbacks.

Attempts have been made to propel boats by means of stern propellers or wheels operated from aboard the boat, but the great disadvantage in such system is that the agitation of the water in the canal, tends to wash away the bank and also to disturb the sediment of the bottom of the canal.

To obviate the objections heretofore existing and to enable canals to be used as water highways to their best capacity, I have devised the mechanism hereinafter described.

In the case of the Erie canal, I would propose to obtain the electric power from the great Niagara Falls power houses. The fall of the canal waters could also be utilized by the erection of suitable turbine wheels for power along the line of the canals.

My invention consists in the features of construction hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference letters indicate similar parts in all of the views, Figure 1- represents a side elevation showing the rack, section of canal boat, and canal electric wire and commutator. Fig. 2 is a cross-section showing the foundation for rail, carriage, dynamo, and commutator; and Fig. 3 is a cross section of the rail, showing a double rack, one having the spurs downward and the other the spurs upward.

A is a carriage or locomotive which sets on the fixed rail and is provided with a motor and gearing.

B is a gear wheel driver; 0, the motor pulley; D, the motor; E, the trolley; F, electric wire by which the current is supplied; G, the rail; H, the rail plate, preferably grooved to guide the carriage wheels; I, the bed beam along the bank of the canal; .T, the canal boat; K, the gear wheel; L, the stay friction wheels; a, the carriage wheels; I), the driving belts; c, the motor shafts; e, the trolley support; h, rack spurs; h,the lower rack spurs; a, the hook on the locomotive; b, the rope; and c the cleat on the canal boat.

As will be readily understood without further description, when the current is switched through the motor, the carriage will be moved along to draw the canal boat, by means of the rope 1). Obviously the person controlling the current may ride on the carriage platform or operate the switch from the boat by means of any suitable cords connected with the switch.

The object of the lower rack h, shown in Fig. 3, is to enable the locomotive to be run backward by shifting the axle of the wheels B and K downward, by any suitable means not shown.

Although I describe and show herein a motor truck particularly designed for use in connection with the rail claimed, yet it is to be understood that I do not dedicate the same to the public, as I claim the same, and its combination with the rail, in my application filed June 7, 1893, Serial No. 476,836.

Having now described my invention, what I claim isl. A rail adapted to support a locomotive, consisting of a vertical portion G, a plate I-I projecting horizontally on each side of the portion G, the upper surface of the plate H being grooved, and the under side of said plate on one side of the portion G being provided with rack spurs, substantially as described.

2. A rail adapted for use in connection with a canal boat draft motor, said rail comprising in its construction a vertical portion and two 

